Criticism of Seabrook nuclear power plant finds new momentum

Eli Sherman Wicked Local @Eli_Sherman

Monday

Jul 9, 2018 at 9:36 AM

A growing number of Massachusetts and New Hampshire communities are raising concerns about the evacuation plan for Seabrook Nuclear Power Station, especially during summer months when roadways are clogged by visitors.

Residents living near nuclear power plants typically receive an important -- albeit ominous -- notice each year explaining what should be done in the event of an emergency.

“Sirens will sound in your community,” according to the 2018 Emergency Public Information Calendar, distributed to neighbors of the Seabrook Station Nuclear Power Plant in Seabrook, New Hampshire. “If you hear the siren, go inside your home or a nearby building. Tune to the Emergency Alert System station WOKQ 97.5 FM.”

The radio station tells listeners of the emergency, which can range from minor security threats to full-blown nuclear meltdowns. The latter, for readers of a certain age, evokes memories of the Three Mile Island partial meltdown in Pennsylvania and the Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine during the 1970s and 1980s.

More recently, in 2011, the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear meltdown in Japan reminded the world how unexpected events can quickly transform a clean, highly efficient energy resource into a health, environmental and logistical nightmare.

“The history of operating reactors in this country has been pretty good, but it’s not flawless,” said Barry N. Connell, Newburyport City Council president. “Overseas, with Fukushima, there was hell to pay.”

Local, state and federal officials have created evacuation plans to prepare for such events. In Massachusetts, there are evacuation plans for the Pilgrim Nuclear Power station in Plymouth and Seabrook, across the Massachusetts border into New Hampshire. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission recommends evacuation for the 10-mile radius surrounding nuclear power plants, known as the “Emergency Planning Zone.”

But the commission also says a nuclear emergency could affect food and water within a 50-mile radius, which -- between Pilgrim and Seabrook -- would incorporate a large part of Eastern Massachusetts. During the Fukushima disaster, the United States embassy told Americans living within 50 miles of nuclear power plant to evacuate.

With Pilgrim slated to shutter next year, Seabrook will be one of two operating nuclear power plants left in New England, along with Millstone Nuclear Power Plant in Connecticut. NextEra Energy, the owner of Seabrook, has applied for a 20-year license extension, as its current license is scheduled to expire in 2030.

Recently, Seabrook’s evacuation plan has become the subject of increased scrutiny, as a growing number of Massachusetts and New Hampshire communities are calling on officials to to review it.

The movement stems from uncertainty about whether the plan would actually work in the event of an emergency, especially during summer months when tourists flock to the beaches and traffic ensnares roadways as travelers go to and from northern New England. Beyond the northeastern part of the state, Connell said it’s difficult to imagine what impact tens of thousands of people fleeing south would have on the communities and roadways surrounding Boston and MetroWest.

“Quite frankly, I don’t think it’s a workable plan or even possible in this area with a serious influx of people and a restricted road network,” Connell said.

Newburyport, which falls within a 10-mile Emergency Planning Zone, for years has raised concerns about the evacuation plan to the NRC.

But in recent months, the city has been joined by neighboring communities in calling for a public, regional meeting with federal officials, along with current and former public safety officials, to talk about the effectiveness of the plan.

At the center of the effort is Stephen B. Comley, a well-known and eccentric Seabrook opponent, who has battled with the NRC for decades.

‘Finding a better answer’

Comley is the founder of We The People, a self-described national whistleblower nonprofit.

Formerly the owner of a nursing home, the 74-year-old Rowley resident says his advocacy efforts started after the Chernobyl disaster.

At the time, he said, a paralyzed client asked what she should do in the event of a nuclear meltdown. Comley says federal officials told him the woman should be left behind with a bottle of potassium iodide, a chemical compound used during nuclear emergencies to protect against radiation-related illnesses, along with a nurse to administer it.

“This decision would have made her expendable,” Comley said. “I have dedicated my life to finding a better answer.”

Fast forward three decades and Comley is still trying to find a better answer. Local, state and federal officials know him well. He attends public meetings and political events, handing out packets of documents with transcripts, correspondents and newspaper clippings dating back to the 1980s.

Many of the same documents are attached to the barrage of emails he sends regularly to regulators, elected official and news outlets. Seabrook accuses him of unnecessarily scaring the public, and waging a campaign of misinformation.

“Stephen Comley has waged a campaign of misinformation against Seabrook for nearly 30 years, and his claims have always been found to be without merit,” said Peter Robbins, a Seabrook spokesman. “His allegations about Seabrook are intended to gain publicity and scare the public and are simply false.”

Comley for years has sent emails, letters and made phone calls to various new organizations, and he accuses outlets and journalists of suppressing information if they deny him coverage.

“Do you know the journalist’s creed?” Comley asked recently, referring to a set of ethics created by Walter Williams, the first dean of the Missouri School of Journalism.

“It says the suppression of the news, for any consideration other than the welfare of society, is indefensible,” he said.

The insistent behavior has landed him in some legal trouble in the past. In 2016, Manchester Police charged Comley with trespassing after employees of WGIR-AM 610, an iHeartRadio station in Manchester, New Hampshire, complained about his overt attempts to get on the air.

According to police reports, an employee said he heard Comley say, “I’m going to make sure I get on the radio.” The alleged statement was made about eight months after Comley had showed up to the station, also trying to get on air. When he was asked to leave, an employee said he saw Comley lift up his coat to show a gun on his hip, according to police reports.

The incident, however, wasn’t immediately reported to police and Comley denies the accusations. Earlier this year he filed a defamation lawsuit against WGIR and its employees.

“This description of events was clearly defamatory in that it attempted to portray Mr. Comley as a dangerous person to the eyes of law enforcement and therefore ultimately, to the public,” according to court documents.

A New Hampshire judge has since dismissed the defamation case.

Comley also dabbles in politics. On Jan. 17, 2017, two days before President Donald Trump was inaugurated, Comley announced his 2020 candidacy for United States president.

It’s not the first time he has run for the country’s top political office, but he feels like Trump’s failure to “drain the swamp” in Washington D.C. has opened the door for him -- “a true outsider,” as he describes himself -- to win the next election. Jesus Christ is his campaign manager, he said.

“If Jesus Christ wants me to become the next president of the United States, who can stop it?” he wrote in a recent op-ed.

Beyond his political aspirations, Comley’s well-established local activism related to the Seabrook evacuation plan has yielded some renewed success in both Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

“We are taking Mr. Comley’s concerns seriously and have asked the NRC to provide follow up information and (for) a public meeting to be held,” said Anthony Marino, Ipswich town manager.

‘Caution President Trump’

Seven Massachusetts cities and towns over the last year have sent letters to the NRC calling for a meeting.

The municipalities are Amesbury, Georgetown, Ipswich, Merrimac, Newbury, Newburyport and Salisbury. A handful of New Hampshire towns have also joined the call, including most recently Hampton Falls in June. In the letters, most communities cite either We The People, or Comley himself, as precipitating the request.

In Massachusetts, Comley’s efforts have caught the attention of lawmakers and other statewide officials, according to a Feb. 1 memo from the office of the Mass. Senate Minority Leader Bruce E. Tarr, a Republican.

“Constituent inquiries regarding the viability of the plan have significantly increased,” according to the memo, addressed to the Massachusetts Attorney General Office.

In an effort to spur more attention, Comley has rented out commercial billboard space alongside Route 1 in Salisbury, addressing Trump directly, and asking him to investigate the NRC.

“Caution President Trump; Seabrook nuclear zone no evacuation possible; investigate the Nuclear Regulatory Commission,” according to the billboard.

The billboard, to some degree, is increasing interest.

“This billboard is very large and clearly calls the validity of evacuation plan/zone into question. Simply put, over the past two years, an increased number of individuals/officials within the 10 mile radius continue to question viability of the approved evacuation plan,” according to the memo.

Comley has also taken his concerns to Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey and her staff, asking for an investigation into Seabrook, its facilities and its operations.

When asked about it, Deputy Press Secretary Chloe Gotsis confirmed the office was aware of his concerns and had met with Comley many times, but declined to comment further. The office would not comment on whether there was a need to revisit the effectiveness of the evacuation plan.

The NRC, for its part, has responded similarly to most of the letters sent by Massachusetts communities. In the event of an emergency, the federal agency says it’s responsible only for the on-site response, whereas the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency -- with approval from the Federal Emergency Management Agency -- oversees the off-site response.

To that end, there hasn’t been an issue, according to the NRC.

“To date, the NRC has not received any concerns from FEMA regarding the state’s capability for implementing their plan, including their capability for evacuating the general public in a timely and safe manner,” wrote David C. Lew, acting regional administrator for the NRC, in a February response to Merrimac selectmen.

Additionally, the federal agency holds annual meetings within the Emergency Planning Zone to discuss Seabrook’s overall performance. During the meetings, regulators field questions on various topics, including emergency preparedness.

Connell calls the meeting a “dog and pony show.”

“They make happy talk and then they go away and do nothing,” Connell said. “It’s all for show, from my perspective. We’ve been asking them to do their job, and not just push the food around the plate, but I don’t think they’re seriously attempting to provide a plan that’s workable.”

‘Not an immediate pressing concern’

Not all communities, however, are terribly concerned about the evacuation plan.

Salisbury selectmen, for instance, sent a letter to the NRC in November, saying they were “very concerned about Seabrook Station and its evacuation plan.” But when Wicked Local contacted the town about it on July 3, Town Manager Neil Harrington responded, “The Salisbury Selectmen are not pressing this issue.

“The evacuation plan has been in place for years and I have not heard a single person in Salisbury complain about it, so I guess you could say it is not an immediate pressing concern for the community,” he wrote in an email.

Seabrook, to its credit, has never had to turn on its emergency sirens, except during tests. The nuclear station, which generates relatively cheap electricity for thousands of homes and businesses throughout the region, has never had an emergency anywhere near a meltdown. And with the exception of cracks forming in the concrete foundation, first cited about eight years ago, the nuclear power plant has repeatedly passed NRC inspections without violation.

There are many, especially people within the town of Seabrook, who want to see the utility continue to operate, as it generates more than $500 million in economic activity each year, according to the town.

“Seabrook Station has become, quite simply, an irreplaceable regional asset,” Seabrook selectmen wrote in a letter of support to the NRC. “It’s almost unimaginable to think of where we would be today without the plant.”

Seabrook is confident about the effectiveness of the evacuation plan, telling Wicked Local it regularly tests its preparedness through drills with local, state and federal officials.

“Our plans are continually updated and refined to account for changing conditions. Our emergency preparedness plans meet -- and in many cases exceed -- the strict requirements of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Our readiness is also regularly evaluated by the NRC and the Federal Emergency Management Agency,” Robbins said.

The near flawless track record for the power station, however, provides little solace to opponents. Comley, in addition to calling for the meeting, has also asked the NRC to deny Seabrook’s license extension request. He’s also called for NRC Chairwoman Kristine L. Svinicki to step down for “jeopardizing the safety of citizens and their families who live in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and beyond,” according to a June 25 email to the NRC.

For Connell, a review of the evacuation plan would be a good first step, but he’d ultimately like to see regulators deny Seabrook’s license extension.

“Nuclear power plants are robust and overbuilt, but they’re not infallible,” Connell said.

Eli Sherman is an investigative and in-depth reporter at Wicked Local and GateHouse Media. Email him at esherman@wickedlocal.com, or follow him on Twitter @Eli_Sherman.